Heart of a Gryphon
by symbolicangel1
Summary: Leona Helix attends Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Her family has an outstanding history at Hogwarts for the last 800 years, now it is her turn to attempt to live up to her family's expectations.
1. Chapter 1 Hogwarts Express

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Chapter 1 - Hogwarts Express

A cool gentle breeze lapped at a young girl's cheek as she stepped out of a black town car. Her dark brown hair danced with the wind, when it fell back to her shoulders it feel to her the middle of her back. She turned back to look into the car and her blue eyes sparkled with life. She smiled and adjusted her rectangle glasses, they had been slightly askew when she got out of the car. As she stood and walked toward the back of the car, two boys climbed out after her, the elder of the two, had a neatly trimmed goatee that matched his jet-black hair. He looked adorable and handsome with a touch of charm wrapped into a perfectly smiling package. His eyes too sparkled with life and joy just like the girl that exited the car before him. The shorter and younger of the two boys had dark hair like the girls it was neatly combed, his eyes too, sparkled like the girl's and the older boy's.

A tall man stepped out from the driver's seat and a shorter, thin woman out from the front passenger side. The women gracefully walked toward the girl and placed her left arm across the girl's shoulders with a smile, she said, "My little girl's off to her fourth year at Hogwarts."

"Mom? What if a Muggle were to hear about Hogwarts?"

"Leona, you forget the rules too easily. I can use magic, and I know more about memory charms then you do. After all, I perform them practically everyday at work. Ever since I graduated from Hogwarts myself," the women said, hinting at the fact that she worked for the Ministry of Magic's Department of Magical Catastrophes.

The older boy quickly chimed in, "I still find it completely unfair that we can't use magic outside of Hogwarts."

"Miles, they created that rule for your protection," the man said with a laugh.

"And to protect Muggles." Leona smiled.

The man had opened the boot of the car and was pulling out three large trunks; each of the trunks had a name engraved on the top. "Leona," her father handed her one of the trunks clearly engraved on the top of hers was 'Leona Helix'. "Miles," he handed on to the older boy. "Corin," he then handed the younger boy a trunk. With the last trunk out of the boot of the car he closed it.

The woman had quickly pulled three carts over to where her children were standing. "Put them down," she said hastily. "Muggles well start questioning things if they were to see you three just happily carrying those trunks around, as if they were weightless." Each child quickly set their trunk down on one of the carts. "Your father is going to wait here in the car and I will see you all off onto Platform Nine and Three Quarters." They began walking toward the entrance to the station when she squeaked, "Oh I nearly forgot to give you the start of term gift." She opened her bag and handed one small box to each of the three children, each a different shape and size. "You can't open them till you're on your way to Hogwarts."

The four made their way down the platforms, the three teenagers eagerly chatting back and forth between themselves. Leona looked at Miles, "I can't wait to see Oliver's face when I tell him that Gregory got signed to the Caerphilly Catapults reserve team as chaser." 

Smiling Miles said, "Knowing what I know about Wood it wouldn't surprise me if he already knew about Gregory making the team." 

"Here we are," their mother said quietly. "Go on. No sense wasting time."

One by one, the three walked casually into the pillar between platforms nine and ten. Magically they disappeared as they walked into the pillar, reappearing on a hidden platform, Platform Nine and Three-Quarters.

As Leona walked further onto the platform she heard a few familiar voices yelling from the train. A little girl with the Weasley red hair stood holding her mother's hand, and next to her was the all too familiar face of Percy Weasley. Leona smiled as Mrs. Weasley began lecturing Fred and George about staying out of trouble they were starting their second year at Hogwarts and they had already served a combined total of at least 20 detentions and lost Gryffindor many house points. Although because they brought a certain entertainment to the Gryffindor common room, their failures and mistakes were always quickly forgiven.

"Percy!" Leona cried out enthusiastically, as she pushed her cart to get it going again.

Though he had been afraid of her barely eight months before, Percy turned around with a smiled as he hugged his friend and he quickly introduced Leona to his mother, "Mum this is Leona Helix, Leona this is my mum. Leona is in Gryffindor with us."

"Are you Gregory Helix's little sister?" Mrs. Weasley asked with a smile.

"Yes. Gregory is my older brother."

"Oh, he and Charlie were on the house Quidditch team together. During Charlie's last few years there, he would write to us about the new chaser Gryffindor had. He was so impressed by your brother. What is Gregory up to now?"

"He was recently signed to Caerphilly Catapults reserve team as one of their chasers."

"That's terrific!" 

Percy looked at his watch, "Mum, Leona, I hate to break up the Gregory Helix fan club meeting, but the train is going to be leaving in less then ten minutes." 

"Right then. Fred, George help Leona with her trunk." Mrs. Weasley smiled and the twins grinned as each grabbed a side of the trunk. "It was very nice meeting you, Leona."

"You too Mrs. Weasley." Leona said walking after Fred and George, Percy walking by her side. "Your mum seems nice." 

"When she isn't yelling at George or Fred, she's great. " Percy smiled at Leona.

Leona laughed she recalled the Howler that Fred and George had gotten the year before, they had opened it in the Great Hall, and everyone at the Gryffindor table's ears were ringing for days afterward. "That must not happen too often."

"No, not really. She's always on our tails about something," Fred added jokingly.

"And she's always bring up things we've already gotten yelled at for," George said as they stopped, looking into one of the baggage areas.

"Well, this year just stay out of Filch's way," Leona said.

"He appears out of NOWHERE!" Fred said with a smile, as he moved down the train with George, trying to find a place to put Leona's trunk. Thankfully it was still light from the spell so they really weren't having any trouble with it.

"We're walking down the corridor at night, minding our own business and, all of a sudden, poof! There he is," George gestured with his free hand as he said 'poof'.

"Well you shouldn't be wandering the halls at night anyway," Leona said, putting her hands on her hips.

"Leona has turned into a prefect," George smiled, as Fred looked into the baggage area of yet another car.

"Leona?" A familiar voice caused Leona to turn, as she turned her eyes widened as she saw Oliver Wood standing before her.

"Oliver!" The two of them embraced. Leona's head was spinning, Oliver had grown up so much over the summer. He had cut his hair so it was nearly the same length everywhere; his eyes sparkled as they had since his first year, but this time they looked different.

"Percy," Oliver smiled at Percy and then looking at the twins. "Fred, George."

"Hey Wood," the twins chirped at the same time.

"Wood, how have you been?" Percy asked.

"Did you enjoy the World Cup?" Leona asked, knowing that that was the question he was really waiting to answer.

"It was great!" Oliver began excitedly talking about each of the games he had seen.

Percy shot a look at Leona, it was a look of, 'what have you started?'

The four of them made their way onto the train, Leona gestured Oliver to the front with her, and he continued to babble about the World Cup. Leona was only half listening to him, she enjoyed Quidditch as much as the next wizard or witch but Oliver reveled in the sport. He talked about each team's strategy, and what had worked and what hadn't. Leona peeked into each compartment looking for her three best friends. As she walked through the doorway connecting the cars, Leona heard a voice from a compartment ahead of her, that she wished she hadn't heard.

"I think that is Wood." A high pitched voice said.

Wood stopped talking and looked to where the source of the voice had come from, just as Leona turned to walk back through the door. She heard the girl say, "Wood, and is that little Leona Helix?"

Leona turned and looked at the girl standing ten feet away from her, it was Gwendolyn Ackles. Gwendolyn Ackles in all of her beauty. With her perfectly straight blonde hair that just brushed her shoulders, her gleaming green eyes and her perfect smile, her perfect teeth, and her perfect complexion. Leona had at least a one zit every second of her teen years, but not Gwendolyn. She was perfect, and it made Leona sick.

"Nice to see you, Gwendolyn. Oliver, I am going to find Amber, Helen and Janette." she had been holding her tongue. What she really wanted to say was, 'Oh, it's Gwendolyn the evil hag of Ravenclaw.' Leona managed to walk past her nemesis, without letting Oliver see the nasty face she made in Gwendolyn's direction. It had been Gwendolyn who had started those rumors. It had been Gwendolyn who had caused Leona's friends to treat her as if she were the plague. It had been Gwendolyn that look at Leona with disdain in her eyes as she received flying lessons the last two years from Oliver. She looked straight ahead, but she glanced to the side upon seeing a familiar face out of the corner of her eye, it was Dylan Timbers.

"Leona," he said surprised to see her. "I thought that you would be sitting with Amber and Janette."

"Well actually I was looking for them. You wouldn't have seen them would you?"

"No. I got here early for a seat on the train, so I could choose who I sat with, not the other way around. If you can't find them you can always sit with me."

"Thank you Dylan. Well, if I don't come back I'll ride with you in the carriages to the castle when we get to Hogsmeade." Leona smiled, stopping in the doorway. "See you later," Leona walked away without hearing Dylan's response, instead simply started smiling and looked back out the window at the platform. Leona was good friends with Dylan, even though he tried extremely hard to get as close to her as possible. Leona knew how he felt about her, and she felt terrible that she didn't feel the same way. He was a follower, whoever was doing something important he attempted to hang out with them. He was smart and charming, but he had just never managed to charm Leona into submission.

She made her way down the corridor yet again. The train started moving, as she looked back into the corridor where she had left Oliver. She saw Gwendolyn blocking the path, twirling her hair, and talking about her summer. "Poor Oliver," she said under her breath as she continued on route to find her friends.


	2. Chapter 2 Friends

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Chapter 2 - Friends

After ten minutes of looking in every compartment on the train, Leona had finally found the three people she wanted to see the most after her encounter with Gwendolyn. As she entered the compartment she was greeted by a loud squeal from Helen Perkins, who had been sitting next to the window. She looked as bookish as Leona did, her straight chin-length black hair was pulled out of her face by a yellow plastic headband, it neatly complemented her brown eyes.

After Helen's squeal a blonde girl almost trampled Leona. With a hug the girl said, "Hey Leo," Amber Berker was always cheery and happy, and her blue eyes always shone with light and joy. Amber was extremely pretty, her mother had been a model, and fortunately for Amber, she had inherited her mother's beauty.

Almost silently a voice sweetly said, "Hello," The voice belonged to Janette Devy, she was not pretty in the same extreme sense as Amber. Janette had curly brown hair with green eyes and a perfect smile, one very much like Gwendolyn's smile.

"Hey guys," Leona said as she smiled happily hugging each of her friends.

Without a thought, Helen now sitting on Leona's left, smiled and asked, "How was your summer?"

"Terrific! I suppose that none of you have heard that Gregory was signed to be reserve chaser for the Caerphilly Catapults? That was has been our most recent excitement. I stayed with my uncle in France for three weeks we visited all the castles and spoke French, which was fun. I got to see the French Ministry of Magic headquarters and we shopped in their version of Diagon Alley. I don't remember the name, but I bought some more books."

"You and books," Amber said as she smiled brightly. Her smile widened as she saw Wood enter the compartment. Normally he would be siting with the Gryffindor Quidditch team, but he seemed to want to talk to Leona very much.

Leona continued, "After the trip to France, I did all my summer work and basically read the books I bought in France." 

"So you went to France?" Wood asked smiling as he sat across from her. "That's cool! Speaking of summer work. I was wondering if you could…"

Leona finished his sentence, "read over your potions and defense against dark arts parchments?" she saw him nod. "I'll read over them tomorrow morning, in the common room, at ten?"

"Thank you, Leo," Oliver stood. As he left the compartment he smiled at Leona.

"Still have the largest crush on Quidditch boy?" Helen asked quietly.

"Like you had to ask," Leona said with a smile.

"What's in the box?" Janette asked, as she noticed what Leona was holding in her hands.

"Oh it's my start of term gift from my Mum and Dad," Leona had completely forgotten that her Mum had given her a box. She looked at the box, it was wrapped in brown paper and tied with brown ribbons. Leona untied the ribbons and removed the paper from the box. It wasn't large and she knew it was a jewelry box, it was black with gold writing on the top. The writing read, 'To Leona. Our darling daughter, we know you will do wondrous things.' Leona pulled off the top of the box, and inside on a cushion of cotton lay a silver locket in the shape of a heart, there were flowers in the front of the locket each petal fashioned from a small sapphire. Leona traced the tiny petals with her fingertip. She smiled, her parents had given her the most beautiful locket in the world! As she gently pulled the locket and necklace out of the box, she noticed the inscription on the back. It was the exact same as that inscribed on the box. A tear escaped onto her cheek, and Leona quickly wiped it off, not wanting to let her friends see her cry. She quickly undid the clasp and slid the necklace around her neck.

* * * * *

Houses, fields and the occasional town flashed past the windows on the shining red train as it sped along on it's way to Hogwarts. The conversation had turned from Leona's summer to all the other girls' summers. Helen had spent the her summer with her mother in Northern Ireland, and with a smile she told them of the amazing Muggle boy she had met, and how they had become pen pals at the end of the summer. 

Amber had spent the summer in New York City with her mother. Her parents had divorced earlier that year, and her mother had started working for the American Ministry of Magic.

Janette didn't share as many details about her summer as the other girls, she simply looked up and said, "I stayed home all summer helping my mother with my little brother." She continued to tell them about her little brother's process of reading and writing, along with being able to ride a Muggle bicycle. As her friends talked about their summers, Leona realized that Janette had not told them about her summer, but instead she had told them about her brother's summer.

Leona glanced out the window and noticed that the fields had turned into the familiar thick forests that grew more common as the train drew nearer to Hogwarts. She smiled at Helen, Leona could remember her first time on the Hogwarts express. She had searched for an empty compartment and had found a shy young witch named Helen instead. Helen had been so nervous about her trip to Hogwarts she had developed hives on her arms, but by the end of the trip they were fast friends. Though the new friends were separated as soon as they arrived at Hogwarts, Leona was sorted into Gryffindor and Helen into Hufflepuff, they still remained friends. Leona's smile grew as she continued to think about her first year, and of developing close friendships with Oliver, Percy and Dylan. Later in the train ride their first year; three young wizards interrupted Leona and Helen's conversation. Leona smiled at the thought of Percy and his pet rat, Scabbers. Dylan had asked if Scabbers did any tricks, Percy had replied shyly, "He just stands on your hand," With a paused he continued, "Sometimes he stands on his hind legs if you dangle food in front of him!"

Helen noticed Leona's grin, "What are you grinning about?" 

"Thinking about our first year and the train ride. Meeting you and the guys, and thinking about how scared I was that I would get detention, or that my brothers' reputations would hinder my chances of doing anything right," Leona replied still smiling. 

Janette smiled and replied, "Still can't do charms."

"Hey last year, I finally caught up to every one! Although, I think that Professor Flitwick only allowed me to pass because he didn't want to see me another year!" Leona began giggling. 

"Or he was tired of seeing you make things glow red," Amber said with a grin and began laughing along with Leona. 

"Remember the Cheering Charm," Helen joined Leona and Amber laughing. 

Janette also begun laughing as she added, "Professor Flitwick was glowing for days!"

* * * * *

It was dark as the train came to a stop at Hogsmeade station. All four girls stood up and made their way out of their compartment, most of the students had done the same thing. All of them quickly filled off the train in their school robes and black hats. Leona smiled as she got off the train knowing that she would enjoy the next nine months of school. She would study harder then she had before, wanting to actually stay with the class in charms this year. It was a personal goal she had decided on over the summer as she worked on her homework, she would excel at Charms or at least do better then she had been doing.

Amber grinned as she saw Dylan walk up to Leona. Dylan greeted Helen, Amber and Janette. Finally his smile fell on Leona, "So how about that carriage ride?"

"Of course," Leona answered as she smiled at her friends and walked next to Dylan along with nearly every other student. "So how was your train ride?"

"It was marvelous. I did not have to sit with any people I don't like. I sat with Gwendolyn Ackles, Tiffany Besley and Raymond Holt."

"Oh," Leona wanted to say something about Gwendolyn but she decided against it. After all Dylan was her friend and even though he associated with her enemy, it didn't make him just like her.

Dylan understood Leona's contempt for Gwendolyn. He looked ahead blankly and then at her, 'She is beautiful in the moonlight,' he thought to himself, 'I hate being part of Gwendolyn's plan, but if it means Wood would be off the market she'd have to turn to… me,' he continued to think as they climbed into the carriage. Leona sat next to him chatting to a sixth year Ravenclaw girl that sat across from them. 

Before they knew it they were being herded into the Great Hall. The staff table was oddly full. It was rare for the head table to be filled with the faculty especially since this year September first managed to fall on a Friday, and the faculty wasn't expected to arrive at Hogwarts until the Sunday before classes would begin. And yet, there they all were, smiling and chatting amongst themselves. Leona had managed a spot between Amber and Oliver, and across from Percy. She smiled and talked excitedly with the group about their summers. Oliver continued to tell them all about the World Cup, Leona freely chatted about France again and Percy told them about the twins getting in trouble. At the mention of the twins the group began laughing.

They continued to idly chat with one another until the huge wooden doors that lend into the entrance hall opened, and Professor McGonagall entered. As she passed the Gryffindor table she gave them all a rare smile. Following her were the new first years. As the first years entered, Leona could clearly see the amazed looks on their faces as they looked up at the ceiling, which was enchanted to look like the night's sky.

The Sorting Ceremony had begun.


	3. Chapter 3 Quidditch Captain

**Chapter 3 - Quidditch Captain**

The Gryffindor common room was unusually quiet when Leona sat down to read on of the books she'd gotten in France over summer holidays. She looked up and around the room, noticing a pair of first years sitting in the corner of the room playing wizard's chess, and a third year sitting at another table. The girl was working on what appeared to be Potions homework; 'Snape probably has them working on a parchment about the importance of having properly ground ingredients,' Leona thought before returning her attention to the book she had been reading, _Things That Bump in the Night: Magical Creatures and Muggles_. Once she had absorbed herself in a section about household magical creatures, which include small four-foot magical lizards Bedigators, she heard a familiar voice coming from outside the portrait hole. After she placed a piece of parchment in her book to hold her place, she directed her attention away from her book and toward the voice as a boy's silhouette emerged from the portrait hole.

"Leona I have been looking for you all over!" the boy exclaimed bounding toward her quickly in large strides. 

"Well, you found me. Now the question is, why were you looking for me?" As Leona spoke Oliver had made his way to the chair she was sitting, preparing her self for the worse Leona quickly set the book on the arm of the chair, as soon as she set the book down Oliver had scooped her into a bone crushing hug.

"Well," Oliver continued the hug, "guess who was named Captain for our house Quidditch team?"

"Fred and George Weasley," Leona said as she gave him a mischievous   
smile.   

"LEONA!" he exclaimed exasperated, as he playfully twirled her around and let her out of the hug.

"Could it be you?" she saw him nod, "congratulations Oliver. That's terrific!" She stood and gave him a hug.

"I didn't think that I would get it. I mean I've only been Keeper for a year and then they choose me! As their captain!" he said grinning.

"I'm really happy for you! I know that you've wanted to be captain for a really long time," Leona grinned back at Oliver.

"Since I was four years old," Oliver leaned back contentedly into the chair, "my father would take me and my brothers out onto the moors to practice flying and eventually playing quick games once all three of us could stay on our brooms. It was amazing, the look in my father's eyes the first time I stopped Kerry from scoring. He was so proud."

"Now his youngest son is the Captain for the Gryffindor Quidditch team," Leona glanced cheerfully at Oliver, she was so happy for him.

"Kerry is going to throw a fit," Oliver said with a devilish smile.

Leona looked at Oliver is a confused manner, "Oliver, Kerry plays for the Baltimore Bashers why would he throw a fit when he hears that you have been named Captain?"

"Because _he was never captain. Sure, he was an excellent player and he was highly revered on the Ravenclaw team, but he never made Captain. And they say if you are a good captain and an excellent player then you are almost guaranteed a spot on a Professional Quidditch team in the UK . . . and with the American Quidditch League developing at it's current rate, there's a good chance to be recruited by a few of those teams as well." Oliver's smile grew wider as he talked about a professional team._

"Well then it seems like this gig as captain is a step in the right direction." Leona grinned as she continued, "and to think you weren't even going to try out for Quidditch because you were afraid of failure. But look at you now, Captain Wood."

"I have to say, it does have a nice ring to it, the captain part. And I was not afraid of failure. It was more of the not getting on the team thing that got to me, "Leona raised her eyebrow as Oliver continued, "But you put a stop to the idea of me not trying out. As I remember you gave me an entire pep speech about the important of reaching for goals," Oliver said as he watched the fire reflect off Leona's glasses.

"Well," Leona paused, "have you sent your Mum and Dad and owl?"

"I nearly forgot," Oliver looked at Leona, sitting in the chair next to her, "do you have a quill and parchment I could use?" 

Leona quickly dug into her bag for an extra piece of parchment and an extra   
quill, as she handed them to Oliver she said, "You can use my ink too."

"Thanks, Leona, you're the best," Oliver replied as he quickly scrawled a note to his parents.

As Oliver wrote his letter, Leona let out a small sigh and returned to her book.  She had just begun to read again when he asked, "So what book are you reading now?"

"_Things That Go Bump in the Night: Magical Creatures and Muggles_. It's about magical creatures that are commonly found in Muggle homes," Leona replied, she had began to accept the fact that she would not be getting any reading done that night 

"Anything interesting?" Oliver wondered aloud while tilting his head to read the spine of the book.

"Muggle children are more prone to actually seeing the creatures, while their parents believe that the creatures are figments of the child's imagination," Leona replied.

"Muggles," Oliver shook his head, "they are so narrow minded at times," he paused and looked back at her. "Are any of the 'monsters' actually dangerous?"

"Ministry officials have said many times that Boogie Monsters are highly dangerous, but they rarely attack Muggles in their homes. It is thought that Boogie Monsters feed off the fear of the children that they scare, and since children with magical abilities are rarely afraid of these creatures, they choose to scare Muggle children," Leona said looking at the front cover of the book. Illustrated on the cover was a picture of a child sleeping, and a pair of bright green eyes that would blink every so often.

"No wonder you do so well in Care for Magical Creatures," Oliver replied in a surprised voice.

"Why?" Leona asked titling her head questioningly.

"You do so much out of class reading that you get nearly everything that Professor Kettleburn lectures about," Oliver laughed at the expression of relief on Leona's face.

"Oh, I thought that you might have discovered my real secret," she replied with a mischievous twinkle in her eye.

"Your real secret? Well then, out with it what is your secret? That is if you can tell me since it is a secret," he asked with a charming grin.

"Sometimes," Leona looked at Oliver and leaned toward him to whisper in his ear, "I open the book and then," she paused dramatically, and Oliver leaned closer to make sure he didn't miss it, "I read."

Oliver gasped as though he was in shock, causing Leona to bust out laughing. Soon Oliver followed her lead, and laughed along with her. The third year girl, who had been looking at them with contempt, finally broke down, and said, "Shhhh!"

 "Sorry," said Leona, but she and Oliver continued to laugh.  They placed Leona's books on the chair she'd vacated and then left the common room still hysterical.
    
    * * * * *
    
    Percy sat in the Great Hall, taking notes on a piece of parchment, constantly referring to an open book. Oliver checked his watch and saw that he had another hour until dinner. Oliver quickly walked over to Percy smiling; he had successfully completed his first week of practices as captain of his house team, and was still dressed in his practice robes.  
    
    "Hello Percy," he said as he sat down, "what are you working on?"
    
    "Defense against Dark Arts," Percy replied grimly looking up at Oliver, "Quirell and his obsession with vampires." 
    
    "But it's not due for another two weeks," Oliver replied looking at Percy as if he were insane.
    
    "Yes, but I'd rather get it done with as early as possible," Percy said glancing again at the book he was reading.
    
              "I'll probably get started on that as well. Leona likes me to get my parchments to her a few days before they are due," Oliver smiled and continued, "seems she has parchments to write herself."
    
              "Well that's Leona for you. Give her a topic and……" Percy started. And Oliver finished his sentence, "she can go on forever!"
    
    "Exactly," Percy gave Oliver a weak smile, "so how are my brothers working out as your new beaters?"
    
    "Excellent! Bloody brilliant those two! You have no idea how thankful I am for you suggesting them," Oliver replied excitedly.
    
    "Actually it was my Mum who begged me to speak to you about the possibility of having them on the team," Percy said with a shrug, "she hopes that it will keep them out of trouble."
    
    "She's not the only one," Oliver's smile diminished slightly, "if they help on the Quidditch field as much as they get into trouble, we may win both the Quidditch cup and the House cup. Gryffindor can only hope," Oliver said looking at the half-full scroll Percy had already written.  
    
    "Where is it?" Percy muttered to himself, as he looked around for something, "bugger! Leona must have it then."
    
    "What?" Oliver asked.
    
    "_Vampires & A Thirst for Blood_. It's one of the books Leona bought over the summer. She was letting me borrow it," Percy said, as he closed the book he had been reading.
    
    "Oh," Oliver replied, looking shocked that Leona would buy such a book. However, it was a book about vampires; she had mentioned that she bought some books for references in classes.
    
    "Well, I know she's in the library," Percy said as he put the pile of books into his bag and stood up to leave.
    
              "Wood!" a girl's voice came from the entrance of the Great Hall, "Oliver! Hey OLIVER!"
    
    "Ah, it's Gwendolyn. She sounds impatient, as usual. I am going to find Leona. See you at dinner," Percy said as he shoved his books into his bag and left the Great Hall. 
    
    Wood turned and looked at Gwendolyn. She had just entered the Hall and was flailing her arms as though he needed movement to direct his attention to her.  She strolled toward him with a huge grin on her face. She pasted Percy and even smiled at him. Percy simply rolled his eyes and continued on his trek to find Leona.
    
    "Hello Gwendolyn," Oliver said with a charming smile.
    
    She flipped her hair and smiled, as she asked, "hey, how was Quidditch practice, Captain?" 
    
    "Terrific!" Oliver wasn't as excited about talking to Gwendolyn about Quidditch practice as he had been with Leona and Percy; she was one of the Chasers on the Ravenclaw house team, therefore she was the competition. He now felt that discussing Quidditch with her was a bad move, he was captain he felt the need to protect his team and their strategies.
    
    "That's great," Gwendolyn smiled a perfect smile, "listen Wood, I was curious if you would be interested in joining me on the visit to Hogsmeade in October? I figured I should ask you before anyone else had the chance, so what do you say?"
    
     "I don't know," Oliver became uncomfortable, "normally I go with Percy and Leona."
    
    "Well, I could join the three of you," Gwendolyn paused and smiled, "_Or_, if it's a problem I'm sure I can just find someone else to…"
    
    Oliver interrupted her, "No need to find someone else, I think they'll understand this one time if I don't go with them."
    
    "Of course after all they are your friends," Gwendolyn said smiling slyly.
    
    * * * * *
    
    Leona sat concentrating very hard on the book in front of her; she was so involved in her work that she didn't notice when Percy sat down in the seat directly across from her.
    
    "Leona . . . " Percy tried to get her attention. Reluctantly she was pulled out of her trance, "what? Oh Percy!  How long have you been here?" Leona asked quietly, remembering she was in the library.
    
    "For the past three minutes, I've been trying to get your attention!  What are you so involved in?" Percy whispered back.
    
    "Oh! I've been trying to read these last three sentences for at least twenty minutes," Leona responded looking slightly saddened.
    
    "Are you thinking about him again?" Percy whispered, looking at Leona with concern. She nodded and he sighed, "why don't you just tell him?"
    
    "Because, it's one thing to be friends and have all these feelings inside, and it's a completely different thing to be friends and have all these feelings out in the open," Leona continued, still looking upset.
    
    "I don't know why you let him get to you," Percy shook his head glancing at the books piled next to Leona. There were twelve, all of them checked out in her name and all of them having at least one piece of paper marking information Leona had found interesting.
    
    "You wouldn't understand. I mean we are talking about _Oliver_," as Leona said Oliver's name a smile crossed her lips.
    
    "Yes, Mister Quidditch," Percy looked at her again, "he'll probably be relieved to talk about it."
    
    "Percy, Oliver doesn't feel the same way about me as I do about him. I'm positive. He thinks of me as just another one of the guys," Leona paused looking at Percy again, "unless you've heard differently?" she looked at him expectantly.
    
    "Leona, don't even attempt to tread in _that water. You know that anything Oliver tells me in strict confidence stays just between the two of us, just as I haven't gone and told Oliver about your crush on him."_
    
    "It's not a crush," Leona said as she leaned back in her chair and crossed her arms.
    
    "Yes, it is," Percy said looking her in the eye, but something in her eyes made him finally believe her, "well if it's not a crush, then tell him."
    
    "Nope," Leona said still looking at him, "Besides how do you tell someone you've liked them for four years?" 
    
    "Simple. Oliver I've liked you for four long years and have been waiting to know how you feel," Percy smiled.
    
    "Percy! I can't say that to him," Leona said looking at the floor.
    
    "Then don't torture yourself about it. I personally can't stand to see you like this," Percy said with a smile. "You're my best friend, Leona; I can't just let you wallow in misery over him. I understand that you care about him deeply but seriously you've got to buck up and talk to him about it."
    
    "It will all come with time. I'm not ready to tell Oliver I like him.  We _are_ only fourteen years old." Leona leaned forward returning her attention back to her parchment as Percy turned had begun to read a book he grabbed off Leona's pile. It felt much better to study after her discussion with Percy. He was always easy to talk to and he was one of the only friends she would bare her soul to. 'That's right,' she thought to herself, 'we are only fourteen years old.'
    
    A/N: I want to thank three people specifically, Becky (my roomie) for being my idea board for all the stuff I right and doing a rough plot and grammar check. My beta Caitiy, you are so helpful all of the time you check things my brain skips over completely. My other helper, Amelia Weasley, you helped beyond words in the first part of this chapter, cannot say thank you enough.
    
    I want to comment that this was really hard to get past because I don't like this chapter at all, I considered scrapping it all together and rewriting it, but I decided it will do for the time being with the changes I made after I talked to Amelia, it works really well. I still wish that Leona could have held off on the pouting, but I think it works well. Please leave feedback – I love reviews be harsh, be nice just leave me notes. 


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